Better Plants Program
Through the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), our team supports the Better Plants Program, which encourages manufacturers and water utilities to set long-term goals to achieve significant energy and water intensity improvements over a 10-year period across all their U.S. operations. Organizations participating in the Better Plants Program receive technical assistance, national-level recognition and ongoing support from ORNL’s technical account managers. ORNL coordinates in-plant trainings at Better Plants facilities to train plant staff to establish energy management systems, conduct plant assessments, use DOE energy assessment tools, and implement cost-effective projects.
Energy System Software Tools and Training
DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) offers a range of Energy System Software Tools which are used for managing energy use, modeling key energy systems (pumps, fans, process heat, steam, compressed air and motors) and for calculating energy savings for other important industrial equipment and processes. Our team serves to standardize and modernize the energy system software tools noted above hence addressing their short-comings by making them ready for any required future changes in software and operating system while also changing the user-interface paradigms. This effort also includes the development of new tools as needed and providing ongoing help desk and other technical assistance in support of these tools and future tools. Our team also addresses training and documentation needs associated with the tools.
Strategic Analysis for DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office
Our team supports a multi-laboratory AMO Strategic Analysis Team that provides independent, objective, and credible information to inform decision-making. The team builds and applies analysis tools and analytics to draw insights on the manufacturing sector’s impact on energy, water, carbon, and materials productivity throughout the U.S. economy and to identify opportunities for improvement.
International Industrial Energy Efficiency Program Development
Through the Department of Energy’s (DOE) international programs, our team has developed a diverse portfolio of industrial energy efficiency resources which has been delivered through various technical assistance and training events worldwide. Our team’s energy management tools, publications and trainings comprise a set of proven best practices for reducing energy consumption in industrial facilities, and include state-of-the-art U.S. technologies and methodologies that are highly applicable to numerous countries. We have a long-established history of delivering training and technical assistance to students, consultants, local engineers, energy auditors and factory personnel in the latest energy technologies and management practices. Working closely with national laboratory, university, industry, and expert technical partners, our team has developed programs and trained hundreds of energy practitioners in the assessment, identification, implementation and management of energy efficiency that have resulted in meaningful and lasting reductions in industrial energy use.